Improvement in the



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS B. BLANCHARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVE IENT IN THE APPLICATION OF BLOWERS TO THE FURNACES 0F LOCOMOTIVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,014. dated September 22, 1863; antedated December 18, 1861.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, FRANCIS B. BLANOHARD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Application of Blowers to the Furnaces of Locomotives; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a locomotive having my invention applied, omitting all the parts not necessary to illustrate the invention. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspon ing parts in the several figure This invention relates to the driving of the blower bygearing from the driving or other wheel of the locomotive, to effect combustion in a closed furnace; and it consists in a certain system or arrangement of gearing, couplings, and crank -connections between the said wheel and the shaft of the b'ower, for the purpose of driving the blower at different speeds, and affording convenience for changing the speed or throwing it out of go if whenever desired.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, 1 will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the frame of the locomotive.

B is the axle of d1'i\'iug-wheels,E E the driving-wheels, and 1* the firebox.

G is the casing of the blower, arranged and secured under the frame A, between the Wheels E E, and in rear of the axle B, and having its trunk connected with the furnace for the delivery of the air thereinto. 'lhe fan-shaft a of this blower is supported in a position parallel with the axle B in hearings in rigid hangers b 1), dependent from the frame A.

D is a shaft, supported in rear of the driv ing-wheels E E in hearings in rigid hangers c 0, and furnished at its end with cranks d d, which are connected by rods 0 6 with cranks of similar length on the driving-axle B; or the cranks f f may consist simply of wristpins secured in the hub of the driving-wheels. The said shaft D has fast upon it two spurgears, g g, which gear with two pinions on smaller gears h h, fitted loosely on the fanshaft of the blower, the gear 9 being larger than 9, and h being correspondingly smaller than h. The pinions h h are each prevented from moving in one direction upon the said shaft by means of one of two shoulders, s s; but they are fitted loosely to the said shaft, so as to be capable of turning thereon, and the said pinions have tor'med upon them, on the opposite sides to the shoulders s s, portions 7 i of two friction-clutches, the other portions, j j, of which are fitted to the fanshaft in such a manner as to be incapable of turning, but capable of sliding longitudinally thereon.

h k are levers for moving the portions j j of the clutches for coupling either pinion, h or h, with the fau shaft, or uncoupling both therefrom, the said levers passing through the engineers platform G, and having their handles conveniently arranged to enable them to be operated and controlled by the engineer.

The shaft D derives rotary motion from the wheels E E through the cranks ff (1d and connecting-rods e e, and the goa s 9 g on the said shaft give rotary motion to both of the pinions h h, and whichever one of these pinions is eoupled with the fan-shaft by its respective clutch j or j is caused to drive the blower, the smaller pinion, h, driving it at a higher and the larger one, h, at a lower velocity. The engineer, by means of the levers h h, couples either pinion with the fan shaft, according to the supply of air or degree of intensity of combustion desired, and is thus enabled to control and regulate combustion in a very perfect manner.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Combining the fan shaft of the blower with the driving or other wheel of the locomotive by means of cranks ff and d d, rods 6 e, a shaft, D, gears g g, pinions h h, and clutches i 7' and z" j, the Whole applied and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

F. B. BLANCHARD.

WVitnesses:

0. D. MUNN,

M. M. LIVINGSTON. 

